άρεσε πολύ. Η αλήθεια είναι ότι δεν ξέρω αν απολύτως κατάφερε να επιτελέσει τον σκοπό για τον οποίο γράφτηκε, ούτε μπορώ να πω με βεβαιότητα ότι ανεβάζει τη συγγραφέα σ ένα άλλο συγγραφικό επίπεδο καθώς πάνω κάτω κινείται στα ίδια γνώριμα νερά με το πρώτο της μυθιστόρημα τα διάσημα έθιμα ταφής όμως στα δικά μου μάτια αποτέλεσε μια ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία κυρίως στο κομμάτι του πόσο τελικά είμαστε διατεθειμένοι εμείς οι άνθρωποι να πιστέψουμε σε παραμύθια, σε ιστορίες με νεράιδες και ξωτικά , να ζούμε σε μια ψευδαίσθηση μόνο και μόνο γιατί δε μπορούμε να αποδεχτούμε την όχι και τόσο ρόδινη πραγματικότητα μας. Ένα βιβλίο για την αμάθεια και πως αυτή μπορεί να μας παρασύρει σε κατακριτέες πράξεις και εξωφρενικές επιλογές. Η Ατμόσφαιρα επιβλητική όμως μόνο η Κεντ ξέρει να δημιουργεί, στα συν η επιμονή της συγγραφέως να επιμένει να επιλέγει γυναικείους χαρακτήρες ως πρώτα βιολιά για να πει την ιστορία της. Στα συν επίσης το μέγεθος της έρευνας καθώς το κομμάτι της μυθοπλασίας βασίζεται σε αληθινή ιστορία. Πραγματικά στο κομμάτι αυτό και στις δύο της απόπειρες η συγγραφέας ΚΕΝΤάει. Καταθλιπτικό και σκοτεινό ανά διαστήματα, ανατρεπτικό και εντελώς στενάχωρο φινάλε ολοκληρώνουν το σκηνικό μαζί φυσικά με την εξαιρετική μετάφραση της ικανής Μαρίας Αγγελίδου.
Αν κάτι μου έλειψε είναι μια κάπως μεγαλύτερη εμβάθυνση των χαρακτήρων. Ήθελα ένα κλικ ακόμα για να μπορέσω να τις καταλάβω ή συμπονέσω. Εξαιρώ το χαρακτήρα της Μαίρης που μου φάνηκε ο πιο ολοκληρωμένος όλων. Ίσως βέβαια απλά εγώ δεν μπόρεσα να συνδεθώ τόσο και δεν ήταν θέμα γραφής. Μου έλειψε επίσης αυτό το ένα μικρό βηματάκι παραπάνω που χρειαζόταν για να ξεφύγει η συγγραφέας από τα έθιμα ταφής βέβαια σίγουρα εδώ φταίει και το γεγονός ότι από μόνος του ο αναγνώστης έχει πολύ περισσότερες προσδοκίες. Ένα πραγματικά πολύ καλό βιβλίο, φροντισμένο με αγάπη και μεράκι που ίσως να του έλειψε λίγο μεγαλύτερη ένταση στην αφήγηση. De los mejores libros que he leído este año, Even in modern Ireland, Celtic folklore still makes an impact, As a boy my Dad loved to fill my head with piseogs and old superstitions: it's terrible luck to meet a redhaired woman on your journey, frogs can cure toothache, turning your coat inside out will keep the fairies away I have tons more.
There is a fairy fort on my neighbour's farm which has always remained overgrown, because if you damage one, you're asking for trouble, Schoolkids make a Brigid's cross from rushes every February, which is meant to be hung over doors to ward off evil, And I'm still afraid of the sitelinkbanshee from Darby O'Gill and the Little People I know it's a Disney film but she's terrifying!
However there was a time when fairy lore was a central part of everyday Irish life.
Based on true events, The Good People is set the Flesk valley of County Kerry in, The story begins with a wake, as Nora Leahy's husband has dropped dead of a heart attack, Stricken with grief, she hires Mary Clifford, a teenage maid, to help her with chores and take care of her crippled grandson Micheál, Nora maintains that the troubled fouryearold wasn't always disabled a mere two years earlier, he was a healthy and smiling baby boy, Nance Roche, a local healer, convinces Nora that the child is a changeling and that the real Micheál has been swept by fairies, or the "good people" as they are known.
She devises a scheme that will see the boy returned to his family, but this plan turns out to have lifechanging consequences for everyone involved,
The story focuses on an era in Irish life when paganism and Christianity competed as a source of faith and belief, The local priest was the most powerful man in the parish, but his flock were an uneducated bunch who clung to superstition, Fireside tales of folklore were not only a means of entertainment, they were also a way of rationalising misfortune, A childless couple, a rotten crop these problems were attributed to upsetting the fairy folk and people used all manner of rituals and potions to keep them appeased,
As fans of sitelinkBurial Rites will know, Hannah Kent has a real talent for period detail and generating atmosphere, We can almost touch and feel the soggy landscape that events take place in: "the smell of damp soil was everywhere, " The poverty and misery of rural existence is always apparent Nance lives in a windowless bothán with "walls made of wattle and mud, thatched with potato stalks and heather.
" In later chapters, the wide streets and tall buildings of Tralee town are an eyeopening contrast to the wild terrain that our protagonists are accustomed to seeing,
The dialogue is wordperfect, and hailing from
rural Ireland myself I recognised many the phrases and idioms that are still in use to this day, Kent sets an ominous tone early on we just know that this story will not have a happy ending, Though the pace is little slow in the first half of the novel, momentum really gathers in the second part and I raced through the pages to discover the fates of these unfortunate women.
It is such a wellresearched and beautifully judged tale, Kent never mocks the characters for their beliefs and extreme as their actions may be, they are carried out with the best intentions, A worthy successor to Burial Rites, The Good People is an faithfully constructed and gripping account of Ireland's relationship with the occult, I first came to know of author Hannah Kent thru her first debut, Burial Rites, shortlisted for the Baileys prize and the International Dublin Literary award, Her very dark novel is an all time favorite of mine and one I will never forget,
The Good People, hernd novel, is both similar and different than her first, Based on true events in County Kerry inIreland, Kent takes us to a long ago society with misconceived beliefs similar to the background in Burial Rites, Unfortunately, I didnt take to the novel like I did her first, I did read it half way through to give the book a chance, but did not want to continue,
Other GR friends have highly rated this book so dont go by my opinion please, I just couldnt get into the superstitious storyline,
out ofWhy I chose to read this book:
, I fell in love with sitelinkHannah Kent's sitelinkBurial Rites shortly after it was published, This book has been languishing on my WTR list for a long time, I finally grabbed the bull by the horns and borrowed it from the library and,
, Augustis my "As the Spirit Moves Me Month",
Praises:
, once again, Kent uses an atmospheric setting to create a bleak mood, this time among the mountains, valleys and forests ofsouthwestern Ireland
, well drawnout characters Nance Roche, the hermit healer who the locals have mixed feelings about Nora Leahy, whose husband and daughter have recently passed and is now in charge of her strangeyearold grandson and Mary, ayearold girl hired by Nora to help look after this child.
Kent masterfully leads us to feel various thoughts about these women, as well as the folk who live nearby
, Kent has done her research as she writes about the rituals, beliefs and superstitions that rural Irish people lived by, some still followed today and some that were extremely questionable.
Folklore, especially regarding fairies, plays a huge part in this story, I also learned how plants, types of water, goodluck charms, etc, were used to "cure" various problems and,
, most of all, I love how Kent has, once again, taken a truelife event and spun a tale with a desolate setting and brooding characters to draw me in!
Niggle:
Although Kent uses several authentic Irish words in context, a glossary would have been most helpful.
Interesting Vocabulary:
changeling: a child believed to have been secretly substituted by fairies for the parents' real child in infancy
cretinism: a condition characterized by physical deformity and learning disabilities caused by congenital thyroid deficiency
nostrum: a medicine of secret composition without scientific proof of its effectiveness
Overall Thoughts:
Ignorance Mental Illness BIG TROUBLE!
Kent's sitelinkBurial Rites is one of my alltime favorite reads, so why did I take so long to read this book Was I subconsciously avoiding it, afraid that it wouldn't measure up to her debut novel Damn, this is an author worth following!
Recommendation
If you enjoyed sitelinkBurial Rites or you like historical fiction set in Ireland, then check this one out! Also, Kent recommends sitelinkAngela Bourke's nonfiction book about a similar case called sitelinkThe Burning of Bridget Cleary it's on my WTR list!.